Since my last post to this blog, there was a fire in the grasses at Celery Fields park, Sarasota, Florida. We haven’t had rain in weeks and the whole county is under a fire alert. The shallow ponds in which sandhill cranes spent the nights have almost entirely dried up. That would have happened even without the fire. But, now the surrounding area stinks with a scorched smell. There are only vulture birds, now.
March 12, 2009
December 19, 2008
Loggerhead turtles
For the first time in my life I saw newly hatched loggerhead turtles emerge on a Florida beach. What a privilege to see those wonderful creatures on their first day of life. The babies are so small they fit in the palm of your hand and grow to be bigger than you could lift. Here is the picture we made using the inexpensive zoom lens camera we keep in the car. No tripod or add on lenses. It is not too sharp focus because the baby turtle was covered with sand. We did not see if the turtle made it out into the Gulf of Mexico. It had a lot of beach to cover and there was a lot of wave action. 
December 10, 2008
Mexican Pictures
On a trip to Veracruz, Mexico, we photographed local people at work. A mask maker invited us into his home where his workbench had the rough beginnings of a face mask. Bracing up against the bench with an old Leica camera Derk squeezed off a few shots. Then another mask maker posed holding some of the wood masks that would be used in Mexican festivals.
In the blacksmith shop we looked through the open door where the smithy was working. Our photograph caught sparks flying off the hammer as a glowing iron rod was beaten. The hot furnace can be seen in the background.
The most unusual work we encountered in Veracruz was a man who chiseled salsa bowls out of rock. He proudly lifted a finished bowl. We photographed it through his barred window.
In the cities people walking the streets all became photo ops. We photographed a meat market, shoe store, churches and more. It was surprising to see a Nintendo store. And homes with barred windows close to the sidewalk gave glimpses of daily life. All are available on ImageKind as posters, prints or framed prints.
October 17, 2008
Flip Mino Camcorder
Our beautiful picture of the London, England, icon, Big Ben has found a new home on a flip mino camcorder. Cafe Press has a new product. The pocket-sized Flip Video Mino camcorder has a USB arm that flips out and hooks up to a PC or Mac. This charges the battery, and has built-in software to view, edit, and upload video and photos to internet sharing sites.
We are busily adapting our photographs to the new product format. So far we have the following flip mino camcorder designs available: Big Ben, exit graffiti, Irish shamrocks, kitty cat, and several abstract fractals.
As of October 26 we have a section of 25+ flip mino camcorders. Take a look . 
October 1, 2008
Photographing tropical fish
Recently we worked at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. They have large, clean aquariums with many species of tropical fish. Tripods, which are essential when using slow 100 ISO film, are allowed. Only fish in sharp focus will be considered for publication, so, we always check before traveling to a photo location and make sure tripods are allowed. Here is a lionfish now on sale at Cafe Press.
February 23, 2008
Animal Pictures
We have been making pictures of animal pets at a local Petland store for several of our photobuyers. Pictures were made using hand held Nikon F5 with flash. There were just too many customers with small children to use a tripod.
Good pictures were made of lizards, birds, turtles, hamsters, and gerbils. The African Grey Timneh is one of the parrots photographed.
February 8, 2008
Photographing Marine Life
Derk had an interesting day at Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida. He used his Nikon D200 digital camera, no flash, and no tripod. The pictures are great! We worked there on two earlier occasions using film, flash, and tripods. So, it came as a welcome surprise that the digital camera, alone, could do the job.
Mote has the usual aquarium type tanks for tropical fish. The biggest problem photographing in that area of the facility is the ever present hobby photographer or visiting school group.
Mote also has a huge aquarium tank for manatee. It is necessary to use wide lens because the manatee are big. The best perspective for a picture is from the lower viewing area where you make an underwater shot. Reflections on the aquarium glass can be a big problem there.
Here are a couple of Derk’s pictures. The Jellyfish is available at kphotos.imagekind.com/TropicalFish as poster or framed print and the clownfish is also available there.:
January 31, 2008
New Work
Filling want lists from three monthly magazines has been keeping us busy. Yesterday I worked in a business that designs and installs aquariums. Their display tanks filled with coral and tropical fish were beautiful. Tripod and flash were used along with the store’s own lighting.
Last week we were photographing dog themed products in a dog bakery. The store lighting was very uneven and provided a challenge because we were not using a tripod. They have a lot of customers in a relatively small area so tripods are not possible.
Now we are working on a request that requires us to visit a local Botanical Garden. This time we need to include some “attractive” people in the picture.
September 19, 2007
Little Italy John Travolta
Here is an example of the fascinating banners we photographed in San Diego’s Little Italy last week. John Travolta broods on his banner above the downtown neighborhood sidewalk. You can see the image in our ImageKind Gallery, too.
This image would spice up a travel brochure for San Diego, California. It exudes the Italian ethnic feeling of the area.
September 12, 2007
San Diego Little Italy
We started our work day up in the San Diego neighborhood known as Little Italy. The area has changed a lot since we photographed it three years ago. Many buildings have been re-painted in bold colors.
There are many more street murals. Almost every blank wall has a mural. They are not graffitti. There are also interesting banners or flags decorating each lamp post with pictures of famous Italians. They are more decorative than the usual “eat, drink, live in Little Italy” banner.
Later today we plan a trip to Ocean Beach, pier, and traditional Wednesday Farmer’s Market. Hopefuly we’ll get a good sunset over the Pacific Ocean, too. We have seen several sunsets, but, no clouds which add a lot of interest to a photo.
Last year my Ocean Beach sunset included a sailboat!
